Wednesday, August 13, 2008

It's been a busy month for this working student. For those who don't know, I attend morning classes during Tuesdays and Thursdays before taking an hour-long travel to the office via car and bus. After arriving at work, I am immediately swamped with duties of editing documents about things I don't have any clue what it's about and don't have any intention to know. By the time I get back to the house late in the evening, all I want to do is take it easy as reward for a job well done today. However, I still have to catch up with the assigned readings for my Literature class.

This grueling schedule won't let up until the middle of October, when the academic semester gasps its final breaths. For now, I live by the mounting pressure of walking the thin line between order and chaos. It's not the easiest life in the world, mind you, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

If there's any consolation to this madness, the smoke-filled and heat-laden journey home is something I thoroughly enjoy.

There's nothing much to take pleasure from riding sloth-like buses in the metro as it slowly treks the highway, stopping in the middle of the road and scouring for more passengers, before riding two separate jeepneys (a trademark Filipino public transportation) on my way home. However, I have encountered a number of occasions where riding PUVs is much more interesting than driving a flashy automobile and head straight to the destination. Whereas driving a car is simply taking the straightforward route, riding public vehicles is akin to making complicated turns and encumbering stop before reaching the place. True, the latter is pretty silly and borderline stupid, but it does not fail to entertain.

The entertaining part of the trek back home, although it doesn't happen always, is the fighting engaged by passengers on the PUVs or people along the street. One time, I got to see hostile jacktards stuck together on the jeep I was also riding who were about to slug it out because one of them intentionally kicked the ass of the other riding the transportation. Unfortunately, just like real jacktards, they only exchanged menacing stares without laying a finger on each other. Lame.

Lately, while the jeep I was riding was put to a stop by the red lights, I witnessed a pair of dudes ganging up on a simpleton. The victim managed to break free from the headlock and immediately boarded our jeep wearing a disconcerted face. He told one of the passengers that he was simply walking along the street before both men lunged at him for the attack. Whether or not the debacle was all a stage to steal money I dare not ask, but it was the most glorious 2:30 AM ever.